title:
Homeground
(Interactive installation, choreography, and workshop)
26.04.25 - 07.05.25 at Gamle Munch, Tøyen https://www.gamlemunch.no/program/homeground
Homeground is an interactive installation designed specifically for caretakers and their children (ages 0–3), open to the public at Gamle Munch in Tøyen from 26 April to 7 May 2025. Within the installation, visitors could experience the performance Building Beginnings or take part in the crochet workshop Knot. The project aimed to create a safe and welcoming space for collaborative play, focusing on how we can re-arrange our bodies in relation to one another and the surrounding environment.
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Concept: Katja Henriksen Schia
Site: Projectroom at Gamle Munch, Tøyen
Choreography and performance: Katja Henriksen Schia and Catharina Vehre Gresslien
Melody: Catharina Vehre Gresslien
Video and documentation: Adrian Axl
Funded by: FFUK and Oslo Kommune
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The title Homeground speaks to the need for familiarity and comfort in indoor public spaces when caring for a small child. It names an atmosphere of feeling safe, secure, and welcome—an overarching aim of the project. Homeground brings visibility to the often-invisible labour of care, offering parents a semi-public space in which to gather, exist, and be acknowledged. Another central aim is play: how can the arrangement of space invite collective building and rebuilding? Inspired by the theory of loose parts, the installation included soft building materials—textile pipes, snakes, and balls—that served as tools for open-ended, creative exploration.
The project can be described as a semi-public hybrid event. It is semi-public because it took place within an institutional setting—Gamle Munch at Tøyen—funded by Oslo Kommune. The project was curated through an open call, was free of charge, and was open to the public during Gamle Munch’s regular opening hours.
![]()
Homeground
(Interactive installation, choreography, and workshop)
26.04.25 - 07.05.25 at Gamle Munch, Tøyen https://www.gamlemunch.no/program/homeground
Homeground is an interactive installation designed specifically for caretakers and their children (ages 0–3), open to the public at Gamle Munch in Tøyen from 26 April to 7 May 2025. Within the installation, visitors could experience the performance Building Beginnings or take part in the crochet workshop Knot. The project aimed to create a safe and welcoming space for collaborative play, focusing on how we can re-arrange our bodies in relation to one another and the surrounding environment.
Concept: Katja Henriksen Schia
Site: Projectroom at Gamle Munch, Tøyen
Choreography and performance: Katja Henriksen Schia and Catharina Vehre Gresslien
Melody: Catharina Vehre Gresslien
Video and documentation: Adrian Axl
Funded by: FFUK and Oslo Kommune
The title Homeground speaks to the need for familiarity and comfort in indoor public spaces when caring for a small child. It names an atmosphere of feeling safe, secure, and welcome—an overarching aim of the project. Homeground brings visibility to the often-invisible labour of care, offering parents a semi-public space in which to gather, exist, and be acknowledged. Another central aim is play: how can the arrangement of space invite collective building and rebuilding? Inspired by the theory of loose parts, the installation included soft building materials—textile pipes, snakes, and balls—that served as tools for open-ended, creative exploration.
The project can be described as a semi-public hybrid event. It is semi-public because it took place within an institutional setting—Gamle Munch at Tøyen—funded by Oslo Kommune. The project was curated through an open call, was free of charge, and was open to the public during Gamle Munch’s regular opening hours.
Homeground explores motherhood’s place in public space
Homeground is a place to think with your hands
Homeground is a shared ritual
Homeground is a site to re-construct
Homeground is home, outside of the home
Homeground tends to you, while you tend to others
Building Beginnings is a dance performance that explores different strategies for building and rebuilding. Two performers use the soft sculptures to carry out actions that move between narrative logic and abstraction. At one moment, they construct a path to jump from “stone to stone”; at another, they gather all the pieces to create a tall tower. These soft building blocks transform both the landscape around them and the bodies we see. Small towers emerge as extensions of arms and legs. A singing figure gradually becomes a body with exaggeratedly long arms, while elsewhere, a small creature builds itself larger and larger as it moves through the space.
Knot was a workshop and gathering space for caregivers and their children (ages 0–3). The floor was covered with small textile sculptures made from loose parts—pipes, hoses, lumps, and circles—creating a soft, changeable landscape that was continuously rebuilt through play and interaction.
Visitors were welcomed with the invitation: “You are invited in as a co-builder and co-creator.” Katja Henriksen Schia opened the space to anyone who wished to finger-crochet, hand-knit, or simply explore with their hands. The workshop particularly welcomed those on maternity leave or in caregiving roles who wanted to connect with others in a shared, creative environment.
Det har vært viktig for meg å kunne åpne for at forandringer i min praksis såvel som i mitt eget liv skal kunne få plass i dette arbeidet. Homeground favner rot, knot og materiale man kan pusle med, som er inviterende og tilgjengelig for de minste og de som har omsorg for dem. Prosjektet har vokst frem fra et behov i egen barselperiode, som jeg kunne oppleve som ensom, hvor jeg savnet samlingspunkter som kunne ivareta både det sosiale og det skapende. “
